Lopylki
Ice |ailments = Iceblight Pollution |weaknesses = When unarmored Aether Earth When armored Fire Earth |creator = Democide}} Appearance Lopylki are small Mollusks with a rather flat body excluding the bulb-like head and mantle at the back. On the underside are small tube feet and the pointy, spear-tip-like, grey beak. The monster has six shorter arms at the front of the flat part of the body, which seems to be an extension to the head by the grown together parts of the former upper parts of those same six limbs, and two larger arms at the base of the head. The six extremities possess no suction cups unlike the other two which have two rows beneath. While Lopylki's main means of movement are both jet propulsion using the siphon, which is located at the back of the head, as well as walking on the groung with its two longer limbs, the Mollusk uses its tube feet to move about without sudden movements. The mantle is a little wider than the flat section and slightly elongated with two skin flaps on each side a the end. The Mollusk's eyes are large with the typical iris and structure of an octopus. The skin color changes with the different moods and states, if exhausted or enraged, idle or aggravated. The coloration at the area of the underside with the tube feet can't be changed and is always a pale orange. Habitat and Ecology Lopylki live in oceanic areas but can be found in bigger streams as well. The Mollusk is mainly aquatic but is also able to roam outside of the water for a while. Its main food is Macory whose shell gets pierced through by the sharp beak beneath Lopylki's head. Wherever Macories are present, Lopylkis are near which in turn are seeked out by their main predator, Huenalek. Hunting grounds with Lopylki are the Submerged Boneyard, Relentless Stream and Frantic Bay. The Mollusk rarely dives into deeper water and prefers shallow water as long as it is still adolescent. For a short time the monster can leave its wet habitat and traverse on land but usually stays close to the water. On ground it uses its long arms to move around. Lopylki is quite curious and touches objects and other living beings to examine them but it does perceive if this interaction is dangerous to do on certain subjects and flees if this is the case. The monster has a particular protection against predators. The skin on the body parts that get attacked release a liquid that freezes on the skin, forming an icy armor on this spot. This ability isn't very precise in its juvenile form, only protecting the upper or lower body. Furthermore the flat section on the Mollusk's body is unable to produce this liquid so Lopylki uses armor from other monsters to protect this part. The tube feet and skin beneath it are actually not part of its actual body but belong to an unknown sea cucumber-like monster. Unlike the original owner Lopylki operates the small stubs with its blood, effectively assimilating the stolen body part in its own flesh, hence the Mollusk is able to use the tube feet outside of water as well. The three modes of locomotion are used in different situations, using the extremities to crawl when roaming, the jet propulsion when fleeing and the tube feet when slowly approaching prey. Due to the tiny movement with the stubs when holding still the rest of the body, moving forward like this hardly displaces any water around it. Together with its ability to change its body color, Lopylki is able to ambush prey easily. The Mollusk regularly replaces the skin with the tube feet when it grows bigger, suggesting the existence of a really big monster with those features regarding Lopylki's adult form, Tukolpyk. Lopylkis are social from their birth on and while they are rarely found in set groups they often interact with other members of their species. The observed social interactions can be interpreted as greetings (touching each other upon meeting up) and skin care (removing skin parasites from each other). They are sometimes found "dancing" with each other for a few minutes but it is unknown what the purpose of this behavior is. As this was observed between individuals of same sex and of not completed sexual maturity it doesn't seem to be for mating purposes but the possibility remains that it may be training for exactly that. Due to their intelligence they are found hunting together with strategy but are also seen playing with each other. Interactions with other Monsters *'Prey': **The main prey are Macory but it feeds on other smaller monsters as well. *'Predators': **The best known predator is Huenalek but other bigger monsters hunt Lopylki as well. Abilities Lopylki attack mainly with its tentacles but can also spit ink at an opponent, often to distract or blind it and escape then. Attacking the head and mantle or the arms and lower body multiple times causes an ice armor to form on the body parts attacked respectively. Breaking the armor will make the Mollusk unable to rebuild the ice again. Attacks On land #'Arm strike': Lopylki lifts one of its longer arms and strikes it at an enemy. Inflicts iceblight if covered by the ice armor. #'Headbutt': When the ice armor covers its head and mantle it lunges at a target to headbutt it. Is able to inflict iceblight. #'Beak stab': The Mollusk jumps at the opponent and stabs it with its beak while holding on the victims body for a bit. #'Hug attack': The monster wraps its arms around a target and tries to keep it in place. This attack is used more often when a Tukolpyk is in the area. Rotating and rolling breaks a captured hunter free. #'Ink attack': Lopylki aligns its siphon and spits a glob of ink at an opponent. Most often used when injured and trying to escape. #'Ice armor eject': When its health is low the monster may bend its body to eject its ice armor towards the threat in order to distract them a last time. May inflict iceblight Underwater #'Arm strike': Same as on land. #'Underwater rotation': Lopylki spreads its arms and rotates through jet propulsion hitting close-by opponents and attracts them lightly due to the pull. #'Jet headbutt': When the ice armor covers its head and mantle the Mollusk uses jet propulsion to headbutt the opponent which may inflict iceblight. #'Beak stab': Similar to the land version. Through the jet propulsion the damage is increased and even if it misses the currents can immobilise the enemy for a short while. #'Hug attack': Identical to the land equivalent. #'Ink attack': Same as on land but leaves a short-whiled cloud in the water that can increase pollution when staying inside. #'Ice armor eject': Identical to the land version. Notes *The weakness is aether, then earth when unarmored and fire, then earth when covered by ice. *Lopylki usually appear in groups of three or four individuals that surround the hunter when attacked. *The Mollusk has a high health for small monsters and survives several hits. When its health is halved it tries to flee into a different area to hide but doesn't disappear from the map. *Depending on the power of the attack the ice armor gets formed after two to four hits on the same part of the body. *More than one Lopylki can use the hug attack on a single hunter at a time, which increases the difficulties to break free. *If a Tukolpyk is fighting nearby, the juveniles will go help the adult to fend off or defeat the attacker. **When the Tukolpyk is weakened, Lopylkis use their ink attack to help the monster to escape. Materials Lopylki Hide, Lopylki Tentacle, Ink Sac, Suction Cup, ??? Shell Trivia *Lopylki's name is derived from bleksprautuhylki (Icelandish), what means inkjet and оклоп (Serbian, oklop), meaning armor. *The ??? in materials will be revealed eventually.